Work

Strategic scaling and moral semiosis: a multimodal model of cancel culture in Platformized publics

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This study reconceptualizes cancel culture as a platform-mediated contest over scalar moral legitimacy, where digital infrastructures and narrative strategies jointly shape reputational outcomes. Integrating Self-Categorization Theory, Social Comparison Theory, and Kramer’s concept of strategic scaling, the paper introduces the SCT/SCoT-Platformized Scaling Model to explain how identity dynamics, moral comparison, and platform affordances interact to construct and contest public reputations. Analyzing eight high-profile cases, the study demonstrates that algorithmic amplification fuels polarization through emotional contagion; reputational management hinges on strategic scalar framing (upscaling ideological stakes or downscaling individual culpability); and platform governance selectively enforces cancellation based on corporate risk calculus. This integrated analysis advances understanding of cancel culture as a sociotechnical and semiotic struggle for moral legitimacy in digital publics.

Source: Language and Semiotic Studies

DOI: 10.1515/lass-2025-0049

Authors: Nashwa Elyamany, Heba t Allah Badr Mohamed Abdelwahab

Institution: Arab Academy for Science, Technology, and Maritime Transport

Language: English

Topic: Public Relations and Crisis Communication

Subfield: Communication

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: diamond

OpenAlex ID: W4415134669

FWCI: 1.983

Cites: 26

Cited by: 1

Related to: